34 BROOM HOUSE FARM OCT / NOV 2021 • farmers-mart . co . uk
NFU MUTUAL SKIPTON ARE PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH DAVID , MARGARET & JENNIE BOOTH now made it work for the three of us , doing almost everything ourselves .’
‘ Our average yield is 11,400 litres per cow with our highest yielding cows at 16,000 . Our cows usually go to three to three and a half lactations , but we do keep some cows on the farm for a long time . Our oldest cow is Shawdale Mandelin Pamela 2 . She is 19 and has done her time . She ’ s very special as she was the first cow we ever took to the Great Yorkshire Show . She was rated EX96 and with 97 the highest you can go she really was exceptional . She gave 146 tonnes of milk .’
The Booths have kept with certain cow family lines – Pamela and Pledge being two of them .
‘ We bought our first Pamela in 1999 . We used to spend on one new cow per year to add to the herd ’ s quality and we have registered 240 Pamela cows since then and have around 60 Pamelas in the herd today .’
Breeding dairy stock for other dairy farmers to purchase is another important part of the farm business and David tells of how it is vital to provide what the market wants .
‘ Pedigree breeders like us who sell surplus stock into the commercial market have to breed what is required and that is something a bit more compact than the rangy Holsteins of a few years ago .’
‘ It still has to be a cow that gives lots of milk and that means breeding an average cow at a balanced size that they can take home and put straight into the herd . A modern looking cow with an excellent udder and good feet , to live inside , are the main traits .
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S J Dew & C Radley is an appointed representative of The National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Limited ( No . 111982 ).